Eat Fish to Lower Blood Pressure

"Eat fatty fish to lower blood pressure" seems to be the advice you hear more and more often, even from your own doctor.

I guess they can no longer ignore the countless
trials conducted all over the world that demonstrate beyond any doubts
that fish and fish oil supplements can lower blood pressure.

Although the exact ways in which it does this are still unclear, it is
believed to be due to a combination of factors, in particular the
anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant properties of the omega-3 essential
fatty acids found in fish oil.

Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines are associated with high blood pressure.

We know that EPA in particular helps the body to produce anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, which in turn limit production of pro-inflammatory cytokines hence reducing inflammation throughout the body.

High blood pressure is known to be a risk factor for developing
atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of the arteries) and heart
disease, and inflammation is believed to play a significant role in the
development of these conditions. To reduce the risk is essential to include fish oil and fatty fish to lower blood pressure.

The
body cannot produce omega-3 fatty acids on its own, it has to source
them from the diet, but we can produce DHA if we get enough EPA.

Most
people get too much of the pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids found
in vegetable oils. Supplementing with fish oil containing EPA is an
efficient way of obtaining enough omega-3 oils to restore the fatty acid
balance, reduce inflammation and lower blood pressure.

Some
scientists are theorizing that another way EPA could help reduce blood
pressure is through its blood thinning effect. By allowing the blood to
be pumped more efficiently throughout the body there is less pressure
exerted on the heart.

Eating fish to lower blood pressure in a German study

"My own blood pressure dropped from 140/90 to 100/70 after I started
eating a small can of mackerel fillets every day," says researcher Peter
Singer, Ph.D., of Berlin, Germany.

Dr. Singer found small doses
of fish oil effective in reducing blood pressure as the beta-blocker
Inderal, a commonly prescribed blood pressure medication. He also found
that fish oil and Inderal together reduced blood pressure better than
either did alone.

So, if just eating fish alone doesn't do the
trick, it may still add to the potency of medication, making a lower
dose possible - this is why you need to discuss with your doctor any
changes to your diet, as it can have a dramatic effect on the
effectiveness of your medications!

How much fish to lower blood pressure?

Conventional blood pressure lowering medications often have
detrimental side-effects on the quality of life and may lead to unfavourable
changes in cholesterol levels, which means that you might need to go on
cholesterol-lowering drugs as well, with their own unpleasant
side-effects.

Several studies have found that supplementation with
large amounts of fish oil (5-15 grams/day) lowers blood pressure
significantly in hypertensive individuals.

Whether smaller amounts are equally effective has been open to question.

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College of Medicine now report that daily supplementation with low doses of fish oil is indeed effective in lowering blood pressure in mildly hypertensive patients.

Their
study involved 33 patients (men and women) with a diastolic pressure
(the lower number) between 90 and 104 mm Hg. After a four-week washout
period during which the participants discontinued all medications, the
patients were randomly allocated to one of two groups.

After 12 weeks and a four-week washout period the
groups switched supplementation so that group 1 now received the
placebo. Blood pressure, heart rate, and body weight were recorded at
two-week intervals during the study and blood samples were collected and
analyzed at the beginning and end of each treatment period.

The researchers found that fish oil supplementation of 2 g/day
reduced diastolic pressure by an average of approximately 4.4 mm Hg and
systolic pressure by an average of 6.5 mm Hg when compared to values
obtained prior to the start of treatment.

The dosage studied is
the amount of omega-3 in 3 1/2 oz./100 g. of fresh Atlantic mackerel,
four oz./120g. of canned pink salmon or seven oz./200g. of canned
sardines.

The drop was enough to eliminate the need for medication in
some people.

They concluded that fish oil supplementation is a
safe and effective way of lowering blood pressure in mildly hypertensive
subjects, but noted one important detail: the beneficial effects wear
off relatively quickly once supplementation is discontinued indicating
that changes to your diet have to be permanent in order to be effective.

What a Danish Study Reveals

Another fascinating Danish study explains why you should use fish to
lower blood pressure and suggests that you need a minimum of three
servings of fish a week to see good results.

Investigators found
that adding fish oil to the diets of those who ate fish three or more
times a week did not reduce blood pressure further. However, doses of fish oil did depress blood pressure in those who did not eat that much fish.

Thus
it appears that fish eaten three times a week supplies enough omega-3
oil to control blood pressure in most people, which suggests high blood
pressure is partly due to a "fish deficiency".

Other components of seafood, such as potassium and selenium, may also contribute to lowering blood pressure.

Fish and CoQ10

Another reason why you should use fish to lower blood pressure, is its high levels of the antioxidant co-enzyme Q10,
or CoQ10. This nutrients helps cells create energy.

While it's
available in all cells, the greatest supply is in heart cells, because,
as you can imaging, they work very hard and need a lot of energy.

In one study of 109
patients with serious high blood pressure (serious enough that they had
been taking medications for at least a year), half were able to
completely stop taking one to three antihypertensive medications an
average of 4 months after they started on CoQ10 supplements.

So
if supplementing with it can make a big difference to your blood
pressure, I'm sure that adding food sources of CoQ10 to your diet would
make a big difference.

The health benefits of eating fish to lower blood pressure are amazing, but fish can do much more for you.

Read the
Benefits of Fish Oil
page to find out the amazing healing power of fish for many other
conditions and also to have some suggestions on ways to include it
in your diet.

Click on the NEXT link to go to the next healing food for high blood pressure or choose an article from the list below.